1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method for the production of chitosan from naturally occurring chitin-containing materials.
2. Related Art
Chitin (C8H13NO5)n is a naturally occurring N-acetylglucosamine polysaccharide that is obtainable from a variety of sources, especially exoskeletons of marine animals; for example, chitin is a principal component of the shells of crustaceans. See the article by Mathur, N. K. and Narang, C. K.; “Chitin and chitosan, versatile polysaccharides from marine animals”; Journal of Chemical Education; v. 67, 1990, p. 938, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
The following documents are typical of many which disclose various schemes for production of chitosan; Patent Publication US 2006/0205932 A1, Patent Publication CN 1371922A, Patent Publication CN 1158335A, Patent Publication CN 101177328A, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,735.